


taller than you

by YourMinecraftBoyfriend



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, POV Alternating, this is so self indulgent im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:01:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21689533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourMinecraftBoyfriend/pseuds/YourMinecraftBoyfriend
Summary: The first time Red saw the purple-eyed smeet was about two minutes after his pak activation. It was easy to see him despite how many smeetlings were around the both of them. He basically towered over everyone in the room, he must’ve been almost as tall as Red.Who does this asshole think he is? He wasn’t even looking this way and Red already hated that purple bastard’s guts.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple/Almighty Tallest Red
Comments: 21
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Red saw the purple-eyed smeet was about two minutes after his pak activation. It was easy to see him despite how many smeetlings were around the both of them. He basically towered over everyone in the room, he must’ve been almost as tall as Red.

Who does this asshole think he is? He wasn’t even looking this way and Red already hated that purple bastard’s guts. Red’s only been alive for a couple minutes, but he already knew he must be meant for much more than all the tiny smeetlings he was surrounded by and now there was another tall smeet here to divide the attention of the enraptured smeetlings.

Before Red could make a move towards the offending smeet, he and the other hatchlings were funneled off by the nursery irkens.

\-------

Red didn’t forget those purple eyes, but he wrote the whole thing off soon after entering rudimentary education. He was the tallest of all the young irkens in every subject he had, so the weird memory he had as a smeet must have been a fluke right?

The subject matter being taught seemed all extraordinarily simple to Red, he didn’t understand why he was stuck with all the clearly inferior irkens that passed as his classmates. Red almost wished that he didn’t imagine the other tall irken, maybe there would be someone else that got how much of a joke the whole system had been so far. Almost. He didn’t actually want the competition that comes with another destined to be an irken elite.

Hopefully once Red graduated to soldier training, there would be something worthwhile to occupy him.

\-------

Purple was packed tight on a transport ship, there were about twenty more irkens on board than was meant to hold. The trip wouldn’t be long, and he was too excited to really be annoyed by the smaller irkens that kept bumping into him every time the ship made another turn.

He had heard so much about soldier training, be it speculation from his classmates, the reminiscing from his teachers, or the lamentations of the unlucky irkens that were not accepted. He didn’t know how one wouldn’t be accepted though, the rudimentary education exams were a breeze.

“ _Five minutes to landing at training dock 1105._ ”

The jostling and chattering of the to-be soldiers got worse as their excitement built.

“Just you watch, I’m going to be the best pilot in the armada!”

“You idiot, you can’t even walk straight.”

“Do you think we’re finally going to get our own chambers?”

“I hope there’s no more exams, I barely passed the last one.”

“Well that’s still better than Garl, poor guy. Wait how many minutes did the overhead say?”

“Hey move! I want to be off first!” A passing trainee said while slamming his elbow into Purple’s hip.

“Watch it!” Purple bit back, his own elbow connecting right into the others jaw. _I bet he’ll be feeling that tomorrow._

The overheard buzzer drowned out the irkens as the ship came to an abrupt halt.

“ _Arrived at training dock 1105, please exit in an orderly fashion._ ” The overhead voice rang out as the ship’s passengers all rushed the door.

Purple hung back, he was no less anxious to arrive than anyone else, but he would not be first seen in his new station as a wild animal that couldn’t wait a few extra seconds to not get trampled.

Finally stepping out onto the platform, Purple took in as much as he could while his eyes adjusted. There were so many irkens here! Just in the one unloading area there had to be thousands. He was overwhelmed, ever since his hatching, he had been stuck with the same fifty or so irkens in his remedial education courses. There were irkens wielding weapons he had never even dreamed of and taller than he’d ever seen before, much taller than himself. Other ships exactly like the one Purple had docked on were landing as well, making the crowd of incoming soldiers even more dense.

A sharp poke in the back broke Purple from his daze as he was moved forward with the rest of the young irkens.

“Hey get going, we still got more ships to get through!”

It seemed that they were all being funneled into a large hall off the docking platform. The thousands of irkens put into orderly lines that filled the entire hall.  
As the last of the trainees arrived, a screen that covered the entire front wall flicked on. Gasps filled the room as the visage of Tallest Miyuki appeared.

“Welcome trainees of-wait what dock is this?” Miyuki asked while leaning off screen, “Ahem, welcome trainees of dock 1105. Now that you are finished with your remedial education, you finally have a chance to be of use to the great Irken Armada. With diligence you too may one day be able to be an invader, an elite, or even commander of your own fleet! However, training will be merciless and many of you will fail. Be ruthless, train hard, and don’t make friends. Good luck!” With that final warning, the screen flickered off and the room burst into applause; whoops and hollers resounded from young irkens. 

Purple was in awe, Tallest Miyuki had actually spoken to them! She was so graceful and poised; he couldn’t help but commit her words to memory.  
When the room finally settled, another overheard rang out, “Arrange yourselves from tallest to shortest, there will be soldiers around to settle any disputes.”  
Standing a head taller than most of his peers, Purple bee-lined to the front of the hall where a mass of tall irkens had started to form, most of them appearing to be older than Purple. He eventually found his place next to a red-eyed trainee that looked to be almost as tall as Purple was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have watched 4 eps of iz and got no plans to watch anymor, i jus rly like these 2 bastards
> 
> no beta, so ill yall got any suggestions just leave em in the comments :3


	2. Chapter 2

_No way_ , thought Red, _I thought I had made purple-eyes up!_

Red stood there dumbfounded. This idiot had the _audacity_ to stand in front of him! Did he really think he was taller than Red!?

“Hey, I think you might be in the wrong spot there,” Red said, forcing a smile.

“Are you sure about that?” the purple-eyed irken responded, “I think I might have you beat.”

Red’s face dropped, how dare this entitled asshole look down on him! Red stood as high as he could, arching his spine and squaring his shoulders.

“Do you need your eyes checked? Is your pak defective? Just give is up and stand behind me.” Red’s short temper already blown to shit. If this had to become physical, so be it.

Purple-eyes just did the same thing to Red’s surprise and annoyance. He even forced his antennae straight up. _Dammit_ , _I didn’t think of that._

Red brought himself right to the others chest, unfortunately they were still at eye level. Red knew he was taller but this wasn’t helping anything. Suddenly Red felt a hard object connect with the side of his skull, sending him off balance and almost fell, before catching himself.

_Did that bastard just punch me?!_

Purple-eyes just beamed, somehow raising his chin even higher than it had been before.

“Hey, what the hell!”

“If you really were taller than me, you would have seen that coming.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Red kicked him in the shin for emphasis, knocking him back a step.

“You don’t make sense!” Purple-eyes countered while aiming a right hook to Red’s stomach.

Eventually Red stopped trying to respond so he could focus more on trading blows with this shit-for-brains. He knew he was taking hits, but he was definitely giving them as fast as they came. However, he couldn’t seem to defeat purple-eyes; Red had never had this problem with the irkens he occasionally fought back in rudimentary ed. But at least the other seemed to be struggling too.

By the time the soldiers came to break up the fight, both had done quite a bit of damage. Red examined himself; his left antennae was bent wrong, he had a few broken claws, his exoskeleton was a bit worse for wear, and he might need to get a rib checked out.

Despite the pain, he grinned when he saw purple-eye’s condition. He was limping a bit and there seemed to be quite a nasty scratch near his eye, and Red would imagine from the bruises he saw forming, that his exoskeleton wasn’t feeling the greatest either.

“What in the name of the Tallest are you doing?” One of the soldiers demanded.

“He said he was taller, even though he’s clearly not, I politely asked him to take his place behin-“

“He was threatening me!” Purple-eyes interrupted.

“Was not!” Red yelled back, drowning out the soldier once again.

“Was to!”

“Was not!”

“Was to!”

“Wa-“

“Shut up! Is this how you both will act on your first day as soldiers-in-training? Because it seems to me that you are already not taking this role very seriously.”

Red shut up instantly as the soldier chided him, purple-eyes seeming to follow suit.

“Now, just show us your paks, your current height should be recorded inside.”

It felt highly uncomfortable to let someone else so near his pak voluntarily, but Red complied. The soldier slid a small panel open as Red tried not to fidget.

“Alright now you,” The soldier did the same to purple-eyes, who did not look any more at ease. “Huh. Well this is highly unusual, especially for ones as tall as yourselves.”

Red preened a little at the comment.

“But it seems that you two are exactly the same height, down to the nanometer.”

Red stopped preening. Wait, what does she mean same? That’s not possible right? Red had heard of young or very short irkens having similar sizes, but it was unheard of where Red stood. There had to be a mistake.

“There has to be a mistake!” Purple was also looking increasingly worried.

“It seems not. You two will just have to share the current position then.”

“No wait!” Red would not allow that, he wasn’t going to share anything with this asshole.

“You. Will. Share. The. Position.” The soldier flashed her weapon before she and the others moved on.

_Stupid purple-eyes, who does he think he is-_

“Its just Purple.” Purple-eyes said out of nowhere.

“What?”

“My name is Purple. You just called me purple-eyes.”

“Oh,” Red realized that he was thinking out loud. “I’m Red,” He finally concedes while pointedly not making eye contact. He didn’t want to give Purple the satisfaction of knowing he surprised him. From the quick glances Red gives while not looking at him, it seems that Purple has decided to do the same.

While Red continues to stew, still obnoxiously close to his new enemy, he notices that it seems that the soldiers are grouping the trainees off in squads of about 200, by height if he had to guess. When it came to Red’s group, he was a part of the 200 tallest, the most important group in his mind.

Unfortunately so was Purple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in my head they're like, early-mid teens at this point, so deffo not full height yet. if its not obvi yet, the height things gon b important
> 
> still lukin for a beta, hmu if ur interested :3


	3. Chapter 3

Purple wasn’t one to act out. He had a few fights with the students and educators when he was younger, but nothing on this scale. Red just seemed to push all his buttons. It was like he went out of his way to antagonize Purple.

This wasn’t how his soldier training was supposed to go! He’d had it all planned out, he would keep his head low, excel beyond his peers and impress his superiors. Eventually, he would be promoted to elite class then assigned his own fleet. But with Red here to constantly goad him into fighting and have full-on screaming matches, it was getting harder to focus solely on training.

It didn’t help that they were assigned to the same dormitory chambers. Well, so were about thirty other irkens, but that was besides the point.

Purple shook his head, he didn’t want to think about the trainee that somehow _still_ shared his height. He drew his focus back to the weapon in his hand. He was still adjusting to the weight of the blaster- they weren’t allowed to even touch weapons before now.

He gingerly brought the blaster to rest on his shoulder and peered through the sight. The shot was perfect, exactly lined up with the center of the practice target’s head. He drew one claw to rest on the trigger and pulled.

Damn. He clipped the neck. The target wasn’t close, but Purple thought he lined it up right that time.

Whatever, he had time to practice. He’d only been here a few days, still it was frustrating to have to put effort into something for once. He lined up and fired off a few more rounds, steadily getting closer to their mark (except for the one that hit the wall behind the target’s elbow, no one had to know about that one).

Alright, this was going to be the one, he could feel it. He breathed out slowly, his claw barely twitched and-

“Oh come on, why are you always down here?”

The shot missed by almost a meter, just barely clipping the bottom. Of course, Red just had to show up.

“Nice one there.”

“At least I’m actually hitting the target, that’s more than you can say” Purple quipped before Red could get anything else out.

With a huff, Red stomped over to the other end of the shooting range. Purple smiled to himself, even though he was still learning, he was already a better shot than Red. He must’ve left because he knew it too.

Purple resumed his practicing, he wanted noticeable improvement by the time he met with the trainers tomorrow, but he couldn’t get back into the rhythm. The noises of Red haphazardly loading and firing off rounds kept breaking his concentration. There were over 200 irkens in this facility, why couldn’t any of them have walked in instead?

Red kept firing his blaster, about three or four times per every one that Purple did, most of the shots ringing off the wall behind the target.

_No wonder he never hits the damn thing, he’s not even trying to line up the shot._

The noises kept grating on Purple. A shot, another, two more in quick succession, a grunt in frustration, three all in a row. Did he even look through the scope? Another grunt, a shot, a fist connecting with the side of the blaster. This was going nowhere. Purple had to intervene before one of Red’s misfires hit him.

“Hey idiot, slow down.”

“What did you say to me?” Purple could almost see the veins on Red’s forehead. He was clearly getting frustrated.

“I said, slow…down. You’re not going to make any progress if you don’t take the time to line up a good shot, obviously.”

“Yeah well, we’re not going to have time to do that on the battlefield, you’re going too slow!”

“Just try it, if you do it slowly now, it will be easier to go more quickly later.”

“Fine, but if this doesn’t work, I’m turning this on you.” Purple really hoped he was joking.

“Whatever you say. Now just take a deep breath, line up the sight with the center, and pull the trigger on the exhale. It isn’t that hard,” Purple tried to add an extra bite to his tone, but it didn’t seem to come out as sour as he intended.

Red grunted in affirmation, following Purple’s instructions, albeit still reluctantly.

On his exhale he let his claw depress the trigger, the shot connecting with a satisfying thud. It was slightly lower and further left than the center mass of the target, but still firmly within range.

Purple saw Red rip the gun from his shoulder, almost in disbelief of the shot. His face lit up in a second and he turned to Purple, looking like he was about bounce off the walls. Purple knew that the shot wasn’t perfect, hell it was actually kind of bad, but he couldn’t help also feeling Red’s excitement.

_He’s almost bearable like this._

“Purple I-“ Red cut himself off with a cough in his hand, seeming to catch himself. “I would’ve figured that out eventually, but um, thanks I guess.” He said, schooling his face into something more neutral.

“Yeah, its uh, no problem,” _Uh oh, I’m being nice to him, abort!_ “Don’t get the wrong idea though, your terrible shooting was just distracting me.”

Red just stuck his tongue out and raised his blaster again. Purple made his way back to his own station, a weird warm feeling in his face.

Red’s shots sounded better, and there were less noises of frustration coming from him. At least Purple could concentrate on his own shooting again.

And maybe figure out where this light feeling came from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zim prolly wont b in this thing, also miyuki stays alive cuz i said so :P


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie y'all, this chap gets pretty grody, so if ya arrn't comfy with blood, ya might want to skip this one

The trainer said they were doing hand-to-hand combat today, Red couldn’t be more thrilled. This was what Red had hoped for since he started his training, after all he had been in a handful of fights.

Red arrived on the practice grounds early and took position near the trainer as the other young irkens filed in. Red’s eyes kept darting to the doors, definitely not looking for someone.

Aw hell, who was he kidding. He knew he was watching for Purple. Red had been completely restless since the other irken embarrassed him at the shooting range a couple days ago. Maybe now Red could finally settle the score.

_Yeah that must be what he was doing. He only wants to one-up me._

Red had to admit, Purple’s tip did help him. For a such annoying irken, he sure picked up the blasters quickly.

As if summoned, it was at that point that Purple stepped in, almost instantly locking eyes with Red. He sneered and skulked to the back of the crowd of students before Red could return the gesture. Whatever, he would just have to show Purple once they get into the ring. 

\-------

They were supposed to be paired with random sparring partners. The trainer specifically said so. So why the hell, of all the irkens here, did Purple have to be placed with the most obnoxious one.

The technique lesson ended far too quickly for Purple’s taste. He knew what was coming next and he was not looking forward to it. He begrudgingly made his way to the circle the trainer had assigned and waited, doing his best to school his face into something neutral.

Red strutted over, clearly brimming with confidence. Purple wasn’t sure where this was coming from-he got his ass kicked just as much as Purple did when they first met. He could still feel a slight pain in his calf and could clearly see the bruise on the other’s head.

Red took his place across him in their sparring circle. He rolled his shoulders and shook his arms all while maintaining direct eye contact with Purple.

_He’s showing off. What an asshole._

“Alright,” the trainer began, addressing the whole group. “Everyone take your positions. Remember, use the techniques we discussed, and under no circumstances are you allowed to use your pak functions, you may begin.”

Red made the first move. _He must still be mad that I got the drop on him the first time._ He swung for the side of Purple’s head, who threw a quick block and caught the brunt with his forearm. _He’s so petty, of course he would go for the same spot I hit him._

Red glanced off his hip. Purple aimed a kick for his abdomen. Elbows flew, shoulders rolled, hands clenched. They broke apart, caught a few breathes and threw themselves back in with just as much vigor. Gradually, any technique was thrown out as they resorted to using teeth and claws, just aiming to deal as much damage as they could.

The sounds of blows and grunts distracted them from those of the surrounding pairs, or rather, lack thereof. The intensity of the fight had attracted the attention of most in the room, the other irkens starting to form a lose circle around them. By no means was the pair good technically speaking. Punches were thrown that could break the thrower’s thumb. There were kicks that connected without enough force to do damage. Posture was abysmal- either too open or too closed or just plain wrong. They more resembled wild animals than a pair of soldiers.

“Hey, you two! Tone it down, focus on the technique!”

They completely ignored the trainer’s words. Purple swiped a claw down Red’s forearm, he even punctured the exoskeleton. Red caught his wrist in his mouth on the back-swing, and bit hard, Purple blood dripped down his jaw.

A fleeting thought occurred as he yanked his arm back and readied himself again. _He looks good in purple._

As the two continued their skirmish, red and purple blood began to cover them. It was on their legs, their chests, their faces. It mixed at places, becoming hard to distinguish the wounds, it was just a splatter painting of dark pink.

Simultaneously, they broke apart, and their paks began to open. Just as soon as the legs started to poke out, the trainers grabbed the two. The superior size of the older irkens served to stave off the pair.

“What did I say about the paks?! You two were so absorbed in fighting that you entirely lost technique. You might as well not have come today for how much good this did you!” the trainer screamed at them.

Purple absorbed enough to know he should be ashamed, but a mix of endorphins and blood loss was leading to a lightheaded feeling he hadn’t experienced before.

“For Tallest’s sake, just take them to the infirmary, I’ll decide a punishment later.” With that they were led out, still dripping in exertion and blood. Purple had never felt more physical pain, he was already feeling massive bruises, broken fingers, plate fractures, and injuries he couldn’t even classify yet.

So why couldn’t he stop smiling?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i missed a couple days, taz distracted me then i had work :(  
> anyways this was super fun to write, i love the idea of irkens just being a much more violent species, dont worry these two r gonna get better (and pretty soft at some point) but they gotta start somewhere lmao
> 
> Comments r always welcome!


	5. Chapter 5

The medic gently prodded the side of Red’s head.

“What about here?”

“Yeah, that hurts too.” It had been mere minutes since he was brought down to the infirmary, of course it still fucking hurt. It felt like everything hurt!

As the medic was working on classifying all the damage Red took, his pak was already working on the more severe injuries. The gash in his forearm was steadily being sealed, slowly Red’s pak worked to protect the soft flesh underneath the hard-exterior skin.

This was such a pain. Red had never gotten that carried away before! Sure, he’d gotten in fights before this but they were always with younger or shorter irkens, or at least ones he knew he could beat. This was new. He didn’t even remember making decisions during the whole skirmish, he moved purely on instinct.

Red raised the arm that wasn’t being sewn back together to his face, wiping away some purple blood that still coated his mouth. He bit Purple. He didn’t even know why or how that happened. _I guess I got caught up in the moment._

He couldn’t deny the whole thing was kind of fun though. He’d never lost himself like that, it was thrilling. Whatever he felt, Red knew he had to feel it again. There was something about Purple that he couldn’t really put his claw on. He hated him, of that he was certain, but it felt like more than that. Red had hated other irkens, hell he hated most of the irkens he met before he arrived at training, but this hate he felt for Purple, it was deeper. Red didn’t know what to do with it.

_I want to fight him again._

He looked over to Purple across the room. He was holding his wrist but his pak seemed to be focused on his leg. Even from here, Red could see that it was broken, it would have to be set. Purple’s pak aligned the leg while he gasped out a sustained hiss in pain.

“Just get it over wi-SHIT!” Red flinched at Purple’s sudden exclamation. The pain coming from his arm seemed like nothing in comparison now.

As Red took more stock of Purple’s condition, he kept finding more scratches and bruises. He knew he didn’t look any better, but still there was a lot more than he expected. Red didn’t know whether to be horrified or impressed with himself. He settled on the latter, if only for his benefit.

Purple caught him staring and immediately furrowed his brow. His glare was almost as sharp as those claws that did a number on Red’s arm. He just stared right back and swiped his tongue across his lips, drawing attention to the purple blood there.

Purple looked away so quickly Red wondered if he’d given himself whiplash.

_Heh, that’ll show him._

Another prod came to Red’s neck.

“And here?”

“Yes, there too.”

\-------

Red was discharged from the infirmary a few hours later. His pak had done its job but he was still ordered to take the rest of the day off for recovery, his body sore from all the repairs.

Slowly he made his way back to his dormitory. Luckily, the halls were empty. _Everyone’s at training, where I’m supposed to be._ Red shook his head; he couldn’t change it now. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to.

Red entered his room and bee-lined for his cot, for once glad that his was a bottom bunk. After living here for over a week, he was finally used to navigating his way through the mess of the other bunks in the chamber. So focused was Red on relieving his body’s aches, he almost didn’t notice the soft groan that came from a few bunks down. Almost.

_Of course he’s in here, where else would he go?_

Red did his best to ignore Purple, he faced his body away and tried to think of anything else. His brain apparently had other plans.

 _Why is he so distracting?!_ They’d shared the room this whole time, but it was different right now. There weren’t any other irkens here to buffer. Every little noise Purple made might as well been shouted at Red. He wasn’t annoyed though, just distracted.

A thought that occurred to Red earlier hit him again, he really wanted to fight him. _Maybe not right now though._

“Hey.” Purple’s voice cut through Red’s musings. He turned around to see those purple eyes fixed on his, a certain intensity in them.

“Hey, Red you there?”

“What,” Red deadpanned.

“Whoa, chill out I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Fine, what is it?”

“Our spar session got really out of hand today.”

“That’s not a question.”

“Stop being difficult, I’m not done yet.” It was weird, though Purple was chastising him, he didn’t seem annoyed. He looked almost excited?

“Keep going then, I’m not gonna stop you,” Red conceded.

“Well, what I was going to say was I’ve never fought like that before.” _I haven’t either._ “And as much as I hate to admit it, I had fun. I want to do it again.”

Red was stunned, Purple wanted to fight him too? Did this mean that he was feeling that same weird sensation that Red was this whole time?

“Really?”

“Yeah, though maybe without a visit to the medic next time.”

He only pretended to consider Purple’s offer, of course he was going to accept. He couldn’t have said no even if he wanted to.

“Fine, but you better keep us out of trouble.”

Red could see that Purple was trying to hold back his face from splitting into a grin.

“You have my word.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaahhhhh sorry about the time between updates, ya boi had finals :(


	6. Chapter 6

chap 6

It was a lot colder outside at night, much colder than Red was expecting. Up until now, Red had only seen the day hours of his planet as most of his life, like every other young irken, was spent underground. He did a quick scan of the large outdoor facility, but it was too dark to see anything useful.

_Dammit, where is he?_

Red wrapped himself in his arms, a feeble attempt to protect the thinner plates of his own exoskeleton from the chill. His injuries were almost entirely healed by this point, but he didn't want to take any chances. He wandered around for a few more minutes, did he get the spot wrong? No, that wouldn't make sense, there's only one entrance to this courtyard.

Something snagged his elbow, jerking him quickly around a dark corner.

"Oh fu-"

"Shut up, are you trying to be heard?" Purple spoke in a harsh whisper while his small claws dug into Red's arm. "I thought I said be discreet!"

"Where were you? I almost thought you bailed!"

"I was waiting until you weren't directly in front of the entrance. Anyone could have seen us!" Purple enunciated slowly, like Red was still a smeet.

"Well you could've said something sooner."

"Yeah, but it was fun to watch you walk around like an idiot."

Red huffed and pulled his arm away. He didn't know why he thought this would be a good idea, Purple was still completely insufferable. He winced as Purple's claw narrowly nicked a still-healing scratch on his arm. A small shiver ran up Red's spine as he recalled how it got there.

"Fuck off. Are we going to do this or not?" Red had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from smiling, he couldn't let Purple know how excited he was.

Purple led him to an area further from the door, around a few buildings, to a small isolated clearing.

"I'm pretty sure no one is going to find us here, there aren't even any nearby windows."

"Perfect," Red dropped his stance low and rushed Purple, he wasn't going to let the other get the drop on him this time.

Purple realized what he was doing at the last second and barely managed to sidestep his attack.

"Hey wait a second!" No way, Red wasn't going to be distracted. He tried again, this time running head on, his claws out and poised to strike.

"Shit, I said wait!" He dodged again but didn't make a move to retaliate. Red swung for his upper arm but was deflected by a quick shoulder roll. "Red, cut it out!"

_O_ _h_ _shit, he was being serious._

He took a step back and relaxed his posture a bit. Didn't they come out here to fight again? Did Purple not want to anymore? He thought that the other irken would have been just as eager as he was. For some reason that idea hurt a lot more than Red was expecting.

"What's the problem? You agreed to do this." Red didn't have to force the sourness in his tone.

"I know, but let me explain, I don't actually want to fight you like we did before." With Purple's words confirming his fears, Red balled his hands into fists, his claws digging into his skin painfully.

"Well, actually I do want to, but I mean we shouldn't fight like that again. Both times we had to be forcibly separated and we just ended up in the infirmary."

Red relaxed slightly, he was still a bit confused but Purple hadn't dismissed him.

"So what do you want then?"

"I'm saying we should spar, not full-on brawl. I want to beat you but you're also the strongest classmate I've ever had. I think we could get much better if we train together."

"What are you saying?" Red wasn't sure how to take this. Didn't Purple hate him? Why was he complimenting him?"This isn't some sort of trick is it? Because it's not going to work."

"No, idiot. I'm still going to beat you into the ground sooner or later, but in the meantime I think if work together, we could easily outclass the rest if the trainees. Surely you've noticed that most of them aren't at our level."

Red didn't want to admit it, but he did have a point. The other trainees in his dormitory class sessions did seem to be struggling more than he was. Except for the irken standing across from him that is.

"So what do you say?" Purple's air of confidence didn't waver, but Red didn't miss the nervous twitch of his antenna.

 _W_ hy _don't_ _I fuck with him a little._

"I don't know, what if I can't stomach seeing you more than I already do?" Red did his best to feign disinterest as he watched Purple visibly deflate. His twitching antenna dropped from their alert position to hang near his jaw. For some reason, the sight sent a pang straight to Red's gut.

"You could've just said no-"

"Let's do it," Red interrupted.

"What?" Purple's slouched shoulders started to perk up again and the heavy feeling in Red's gut started to dissipate. _Weird._

"I was messing with you. I said let's do it. Let's get better than everyone else here and then, I'll surpass you."

Red saw Purple fight a grin for just a second before succumbing. He couldn't blame him though as Red also couldn't stop himself from beaming. This was what he had wanted for so long, to train and work hard and eventually rise in the ranks of soldiers. And now the first roadblock he'd had so far was offering to help him!

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" This time it was Purple who took up a combat stance. Red followed in kind, and took a moment to center himself. He couldn't lose himself like he did the other times. The trailer's lessons flowed to the front of his mind as he readied a move.

_Watch your opponent's feet._

Red dodged a knee to the chest.

_Keep your weak points closed._

Purple deflected a jab to the throat.

_Use your weight to your advantage._

Red clipped Purple's shoulder, sending him back a step.

**_Never_ ** _take_ _your eyes off an opponent._

Both irkens stared eachother down, trying to find any advantage they could before stepping back into the fray. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep wanting to add >:) to most sentences
> 
> I rly gotta stop writing these past midnight lmao


	7. Chapter 7

Red's pak legs retreated back into their dormant state, and reached to help Purple off the ground. He felt like being slightly less of an asshole than usual as he did win that round.

"You caught me off guard, that's all," Purple said as he stalked out of their makeshift ring in the clearing, making his way to their tally board. Now, it read Pur: 32, Red: 33. They had been meeting almost nightly for sparring sessions for a couple weeks and their scores were always neck in neck. Red had noticed improvements though, he could tell that his movements came easier and felt more natural. In training, it seemed that he, and also Purple, were steadily out-classing their peers. The thought only served to stroke Red's already inflated ego.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask," Red's post-victory daze made him temporarily forget that he was NOT supposed to be enjoying his time with the irken who was stomping his way back.

"What," The sharpness of Purple's tone only fueled Red more.

"I just wanted to know why you only wrote 'Pur' instead of 'Purple' on the talley."

"Oh, um," Purple paused, clearly caught off guard. "I don't know, it's just shorter I guess? Why?"

Red's shit-eating grin got even wider. Purple set him up perfectly.

"It just seems like way too cute a nickname for someone who's as much of an ass as you." Red immediately sprinted out of the clearing as he heard Purple's scream of indignation from behind him. He turned to look as he was running and sure enough Purple's face was a mask of rage. _So predictable~_

He burst back into the courtyard, Purple hot on his heels.

"I swear Red when I catch you-"

"If you catch me!" The rush of exhilaration he felt was eerily similar to that first fight he had with the other irken, but there was a warmer feeling underneath he couldn't explain.

Suddenly, the irken chasing him slowed down drastically. _I can't believe he gave up already!_

Red faced forward again a second too late. He was now going too fast to change his directory from the metal structure directly in front of him. _Shit._

He crashed into it face first, landing backwards flat on the ground. As he held his head in pain, he could see Purple bent completely over, laughing so hard he started gasping.

Red flung an arm over his face to stop a grin from forming. _Alright, maybe I deserved that one._

Purple regained his composure as he strutted over and extended his palm in Red's direction.

"You know you totally deserved that," He said between chuckles. Red took the offered claw to right himself on his feet. 

"Shut up, I would've seen the wall if you weren't so distracting." It took a beat for Red's words to register with himself. _Why did I say that? It just came out!_ He felt a flush crawling up his face and realized that his claws were still in Purple's. Red jerked his whole arm away as if he had been burned. With how warm he was getting it might've well been true.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Purple was still recovering from his laughing fit and Red's embarrassment only seemed to prolong it.

"Nothing! Let's just get back to the dormitory before someone finds us." Red made his way back to the facility as quickly as he could with Purple following close behind, desperately trying not to think about the warm feeling and the flutters in his stomach. It was just because of the physical exertion, nothing more.

...right?

\--------

Daz was careful. It was in her nature. She worked hard for the position she had and took calculated risks to keep it. The newest threat was actually two fold. There were a couple of tall first years that she had her eyes on, which would not have been a problem if they weren't constantly around eachother.

For a pair of irkens that seemed to hate each other so much, they sure seemed keen to be around the other.

She'd already heard of the few spats they had, they seemed more violent than any she'd seen in a while. When she first heard about them, she had some hope that maybe one would end up killing the other, which would make her job a lot easier, but the longer she waited and the more she observed, the less violent the pair got, at least towards each other.

She had to make her move soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a bit shorter than the last one, but I've got some stuff planned >:)
> 
> Also if ya wanna talk my tumblr is @maitai-man
> 
> (btw I'm doing this on my tablet and I can't tell if the font it smaller? Idk pls lmk if it is)
> 
> Edit: I changed the ocs name, dw it doesn’t affect anything, I just think it fits better lol


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